CompuServe Messages

Suresh: Alot is going to depend on the quality of your original video and how it was captured. In Film and Television a very evenly lit blue (or green) screen is used for a background because even there with sophisticated equipment you can have problems if the background is not lit correctly. If your background is evenly lit you could still have problems with VP as is is very sensitive to Chroma values. If you can't do an area fill with something like Tips chances are you're going to have problems with VP as well. If the quality of your captures is very good (Broadcast Quality) and the background is evenly lit you could composite this sequence in a real Video environment with an Ultimatte and retain the shadows. Short of that you'll have to go in and hand paint each frame with an area fill so that you can guarantee the chroma value. Depending on the quality your require, Animator Pro might work very successful for you. If you really need to get it done and it has to be done right you could use a Quantel paintbox which is designed for tough jobs like this, but also has a high price tag as well. -JE -JE